Preliminary 3-point competition planned

Preliminary 3-point competition planned

The Mahoning Valley Coaches Association’s Al Beach Basketball Classic will be held March 26 at Boardman High School. In addition to the games — both boys and girls — between area senior all-stars, there will be 3-point shooting and slam dunk competitions.

A preliminary 3-point competition will take place Sunday at South Range High School. The girls competition will start at 1 p.m. and the boys will follow.

Call 330-536-2240 for more information.

Western Reserve High honored for field work

BERLIN CENTER

Western Reserve High has been selected a winner of the 2013 Fields of Excellence Award, presented by Pioneer Athletics, the nation’s leading manufacturer of athletic field marking paint and equipment.

Pioneer, based in Cleveland, has been recognizing schools — and their hard-working field crews — for their excellence in athletic field maintenance since 1997.

Colleges, universities, high schools and park & recreation departments from across the country submitted photographs and letters of recommendation as part of the process. From a pool of more than 250 applicants, Western Reserve was one of 83 chosen for the honor.

Lowellville Rod & Gun to host turkey shoots

LOWELLVILLE

The Lowellville Rod & Gun Club will host turkey shoots each Tuesday through the end of April.

Registration will be at 6 p.m. each Tuesday, with the shoots starting at 7.

Sharapova out; Murray, Federer advance

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.

Camila Giorgi upset defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday, giving the young Italian her first victory over a top-five player. Sharapova’s lob sailed long on Giorgi’s first match point, one of 58 errors for the Russian in her first loss to a player ranked outside the top 30 since Wimbledon last year.

Awaiting Giorgi in the fourth round will be fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta, who beat No. 16 seed Sam Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka routed 29th-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-0, 6-2; Andy Murray outlasted Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 in his second straight three-set match; and four-time tourney champion Roger Federer defeated 27th-seeded Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) with an ace on match point.

Mushers begin final stretch of Iditarod race

NOME, Alaska

In a year marked by injuries and dangerous conditions, the final stages of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were coming down to either a record-tying number of wins or the first woman to claim victory in 24 years. One of those appeared to be the likely outcome of this year’s nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska, as the first two mushers arrived at the second-to-last checkpoint Monday morning. They were Jeff King, 58, and Aliy Zirkle, 44, both of Alaska.

King, a four-time champion, is attempting to become the race’s second five-time winner. He arrived at 7:02 a.m. at the White Mountain checkpoint, 77 miles from the finish line in Nome, and left at 3:02 p.m. AKST, fulfilling exactly the eight-hour rest requirement there.

Zirkle, 44, who has finished second in the last two Iditarods, arrived at 7:59 a.m. She began the chase for King on the Bering Sea ice when she left the checkpoint at 4 p.m. A winner could reach the finish line as soon as early Tuesday, with mushers on what appears to be a record pace.

Area ADs should send spring sports schedules

Area athletic directors are asked to provide The Vindicator sports department with their spring sports schedules.

Please e-mail the schedules to dchapin@vindy.com or sports@vindy.com, or fax them to 330-747-6712, attention Doug Chapin.

Staff reports/Associated Press